40 minutes of game time.
Giannis has played 34 minutes and the Bucks are +3. He's sat for 6 minutes and they are -13.
It's too bad this is a likely loss (Blair Kiel alert for later) because if they would win it would an all-time performance. In 34 minutes he has 34 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, 11 for 18 from the floor. 11 for 18 from the line. 10 for 13 inside the arc. And he's probably not 100%.
Turn out the lights, it's over.
Devon Booker is >>>>>>> than Holiday in this game. Holiday and MIddleton are the reasons they are going to lose.
Just an absolute killer turnover on Connaughton.
2 critical empty possessions… Connaughton with the turnover and the missed 3. Cannot have that in a 6 point game.
Connaughton misses a shot to make it a single-possession game.
He passed when he should have shot, then shot when he should have passed.
Now it's over. 2 offensive rebounds to give up a 3 and then a Middleton miss. 11 point deficit after several chances to cut it to 4 for 3.
The problem with going small is that their rebounding suffers.
The Suns are kind of good.
Ballgame…
@Music City posted:2 critical empty possessions… Connaughton with the turnover and the missed 3. Cannot have that in a 6 point game.
The fact that he is your best option is the problem.
@Blair Kiel posted:The Suns are kind of good.
They are good, but when a team without any real defensive stoppers on the perimeter (Crowder is good) "holds" Middleton and Holiday to 12 for 37 from the floor you aren't going to win.
If Middleton and Holiday go 16 for 37 (43%) from the floor, the Bucks win.
@MichiganPacker2 posted:The fact that he is your best option is the problem.
Someone has to hit the shot- doesn’t matter who. You’re open, you gotta make it. They are. Bridges murdered them in the first half.
gotta win 2 at home now
@Music City posted:Ballgame…
Game 3 and 4 will tell the tale.
@Music City posted:Someone has to hit the shot- doesn’t matter who. You’re open, you gotta make it. They are. Bridges murdered them in the first half.
They schemed to not let Paul and Booker beat them. You have to give up something.
Why is Giannis still out there?
@WolfPack posted:gotta win 2 at home now
Yup- this series starts at Fiserv on Sunday.
@MichiganPacker2 posted:They schemed to not let Paul and Booker beat them. You have to give up something.
Exactly- and someone has to make the shots.
The Bucks cut it to 6 and had multiple chances to really turn up the pressure on the Suns. Connaughton (who was their best offensive wing tonight) had a turnover and missed a 3. Then they were up 6 and failed to get a rebound twice on the same possession. That lead to a Paul 3 for them to go up 9 and that was the ballgame.
I don't blame Bud at all. He made the necessary adjustments, but I don't know what else he can do other than hope the Suns miss some shots. Other than Connaughton, the rest of the Bucks bench is unplayable against the Suns and Lopez playing big minutes is also a problem.
Bud really coached a good game tonight. The Suns hit 20 for 40 from 3 and the Middleton and Holiday were 12 for 37 and it was a 2 possession game deep into the 4th. If the Suns only shoot 40% from 3 OR if Holiday and Middleton even shoot 17/37 it's a Bucks win.
Allowing the Suns to shoot FIFTY percent from 3 PT range is inexcusable!
Bad shooting nights happen. Middleton and Bledsoe…I mean Holiday we’re awful tonight. But if we had played any freaking defense, we could have taken one of two.
Phoenix as a team has missed 3 free throws in the two games. Giannis by himself has missed 12.
Bucks better get their shit together, and fast. Giannis playing hurt put in 42 with 12 boards, and got zero help.
@MichiganPacker2 posted:Giannis has played 58 minutes in the series. The Bucks have played the Suns even in those minutes. He has sat for 20 minutes and the Bucks are -22 in those minutes.
And there it is.
Here’s to hoping being at home will get Middleton and Holiday back in a groove. If those guys get hotter as the series goes on, the Bucks have a fighting chance. That said, so far the Suns have looked quicker, shot better, and truly played as a team better than the Bucks.
The series isn’t over, but this team is clearly a couple notches above the Hawks and the Bucks will have to step up their games accordingly to have any hope in making this a competitive series.
If the Suns win one of two in MKE, it's over.
We are going to be fine. We need to grind this out. Craig and Saric are done for the series. I think we smoke them at home. Mark my words, we will win this. Phoenix can't afford another injury (Crowder even tweaked his ankle).
So far, Paul and Booker>>>Middleton and Holiday. Giannis did his part in game 2, but the Bucks other 2 need to figure this shit out. It really is all on them.
I saw a stat, I think it was shown in the last game of the Atlanta series-the Bucks have won every playoff game this season in which Middleton has shot 40%.
Think about that.
40% from the floor isn’t even all that great a shooting performance. For a guy being paid 2 money, 40% should be the floor.
And I keep going back to Middleton’s early career playoff shooting. While I realize that the caliber of teams you see early in the playoffs aren’t the same as you those you see late, Middleton in his first 34 playoff games between 2015 and 2019, shot 45% (44.9) from the floor, and nearly 45% (44.6%) from Sheboygan.
Since then? 29 games played, including tonight:
I added these in my head, as I’m on my iPhone, but the auto sum from Basketball Reference shows approximately the same percentages (tonight’s game isn’t updated on the site yet):
FG: 230 for 549 (41.9%)
3 PT: 73 for 213 34.3%
That’s a staggering drop in production. He’s down 3% across the board (44.9 to 41.9%); that’s statistically significant, but considering the quality of opponents we’ve faced in later rounds, it’s at least understandable/explainable.
But that drop from 3 point range is just shocking. 44.6% to 34.3%.
44.6% wasn’t sustainable. But he should be hitting closer to 40%. Thats about where he is for his career, in 62 playoff games. 39.4%. That’s an extra 12 shots made.
Khris is 6’8”. As has been previously mentioned, he doesn’t have the pure athleticism to gain consistent separation, but his height should give him a real advantage, look wise, over many of the guys that will be guarding him. And beyond a few games where he lit it up, he’s been frustratingly inconsistent.
I really like Khris. I want to see him succeed, and I want to see the Bucks win a chip. I give him a hard time here when he plays poorly because we all know how good he can be. And to put up 11 points in Game 2 of the NBA Finals is just an utter letdown. I would go as far as saying it’s one of the poorest performances I’ve ever seen by a professional athlete in Wisconsin, given what’s on the line, given Khris Middleton’s pedigree, and what he’s being paid. For Giannis to come out and play through what I know is still a painful injury, and get so little help, it’s incredibly disappointing.
Phoenix’ front court is banged to hell. We have a real advantage there heading to Milwaukee, and if we stick to our strengths, and play smart, there’s NO reason where this isn’t tied up 2-2 after four. I absolutely believe we can win this. But the Bucks need to right the ship.
Stephen A. Smith (I know) said it. This isn’t just a regular season game. This is the NBA Finals, and Giannis needs Holiday and KM to step up and play like a championship is on the line. He said it was inexcusable that Giannis needed to try and fire his team up on the sidelines.
As others have pointed out; pretty simple....more individual players for the Suns played better than Bucks' players did.
the suns are NOT better than the bucks. the bucks are playing like shit (except- 34). that is all. the bucks can beat this team if they play like they showed against the hawks; hawks were better than these guys.
it's embarrassing when your best player can't make ft's - simple stuff like that, missing layups, simple rebounds missed, that stuff is what's killing them, the defense is playing unreal...
What I still don’t understand is the Bucks are in their fourth playoff series and they still continue to make stupid decisions like taking 31 3pt attempts? I thought they had this game in control coming out early and pounding the ball inside and then voila! Back to the same old bullshit. Don’t pass the ball, and hoist up bombs that usually won’t fall.
I’ve been as critical of Coach Bud as anyone, but at what point do players accept some responsibility?
Giannis was easily the best player on the court but he’s right up there making dumb decisions. Why in the hell are you taking 5 long range shots? Between that and the goddamn missed free throws I’m sorry he needs to be better.
As for Middleton and Holiday, I’m running out of excuses. I mean, you don’t have to be great but you cannot fail to even show up in a playoff game. Just make a 2-3 more shots apiece and the Bucks win this game despite Phoenix playing almost lights out.
Now they need to win 4 out of 5 including in Phoenix. Part of me thinks as bad as Middleton and Holiday have been they are due for a couple of breakout games but they needed one of these two. Zero margin for error.
I thought after the first two games of the Nets series that the Bucks would lose that in 5 games, and they probably would have if Irving had not gotten hurt.
I think the same outcome is likely here as well.
The DDV injury has been a killer for this matchup. The Suns have no big guys that are any threat at all. You need some more 3 and D wings to match up and the Bucks just don't have them. They need a Crowder/Covington/George Hill type. Connaughton is a great guy to be your 8th or 9th guy, but when he's playing starter minutes it's a problem.
Shaq has 4 rings. Tim Duncan 5 rings. Shaq was a terrible FT shooter (50.4 %) career in the playoffs, and Duncan was a below average FT shooter (68.9%) for his playoff career. Giannis is between them for his career (60.5%). It is what it is.
When your starting backcourt shoots 12/37 from the field, you’re not going win unless someone else picks up the slack. It’s in the NBA Finals. And Phoenix isn’t doing anything remarkable to cause the misses- they’re just missing.
But I’ll contend that all these guys need is some home cooking. If last night would have been in Fiserv, the Bucks would have been up 25 in that first quarter. The ball just wouldn’t go in. Middleton rattled about 8 or 9 shots- rattled… meaning the difference between a make or a miss was literally an inch. And you could see Holiday’s shots were ones he normally makes- and as they kept rolling off the rim, he started pressing. Like a golf shot, the more you press, the worse the result.
This thing’s going back to Phoenix tied 2-2. And I suspect neither game will be particularly close. If the Bucks can carry the Fiserv energy back with them (like they did in the Atlanta series), they can steal game 5 and close this thing out in game 6. The Suns have thrown out all their best cards… the Bucks still have plenty left in the deck.
I agree, MP2. DDV would have made a difference in every series the Bucks played, so far.
The game was lost in the second quarter last night when the Bucks were outscored 30-16. Holiday and Middleton were a combined 0 for 10 in the quarter. The Bucks won or tied every other quarter. Not coincidentally, if you take out the second quarter, Middleton and Holiday were a strong 9 for 17 from the floor.
The other thing the quarter demonstrated was how important Giannis is in this series. He sat for 1:57 starting at 8:56 left in the quarter and the Bucks were outscored 9-2 in that time. Bud had to call time out to get him back in.
I just don’t see the same focus and energy from Middleton and Holiday when Giannis is there. At least not in a number of these playoff games.
The reality is this. I’m not sure Phoenix can play any better than they did in games 1 or 2. Yet the Bucks were a couple of possessions and shots away from potentially stealing one or both of those games. They just need to execute better and value possessions. It’s like they can’t help themselves at times. Go down the court and Jack up a 3 and miss and how many times does Phoenix respond with a board and 3 of their own?
There’s nothing a shooter and scorer hate more than physical contact. The Bucks were really aggressive in the 1Q and it made a difference. Booker couldn’t hit anything. Then Milwaukee gets lazy and things fall apart pretty quickly. That was the second quarter.
The Bucks can still win this thing, but not if they don’t buckle down and play smarter and better. That includes Giannis. Don’t be bombing away when you don’t have to.
@Tschmack posted:I just don’t see the same focus and energy from Middleton and Holiday when Giannis is there. At least not in a number of these playoff games.
Holiday took 9 shots in the first 8 minutes of the game. That was the priority - to get him going. It's probably what I would have done if I were Bud. However, if they would have gone to Giannis for more of those shots that early 8 point lead might have been 15 and it's an entirely different game. Holiday going 3 for 9 and missing some short-range shots early wasted an opportunity.
@mrtundra posted:I agree, MP2. DDV would have made a difference in every series the Bucks played, so far.
If Kyrie Irving had stayed healthy, DDV would have been almost critical on defense. I don't think they win that series if Irving was healthy.
They got away with not having DDV against Atlanta (and I think they would have beaten Atlanta even if Young had stayed healthy), because Trae Young is nowhere near the Kyrie Irving/Chris Paul level as a shooter. Young is a 34% 3 point shooter and takes a ton of bad shots.
The Bucks roster construction is definitely an issue. The Bucks have 5 guys that should be getting minutes on a normal Finals-level team (Giannis, Middleton, Holiday, Lopez, Tucker). They have 2 other guys that would get spot minutes for most teams (Portis and Connaughton). Forbes and Teague should not be playing against the Suns at all. Thanasis is playable in very short spurts as a high-energy defender on defensive possessions at the end of a quarter. The other guys are G-league players: Nwora, Merrill, Diakite, Jackson, Bryant, Toupane. It would have been nice to have a "break glass in case of emergency" guy like Sterling Brown or Torrey Craig on your bench as a minimum-salary player that you could at least give you some strong defensive minutes on the wing (even 5-6 minutes a game would be sufficient so you wouldn't have to watch Teague and Forbes get absolutely abused). Of course, if DDV is healthy this is not an issue.
They have no front court depth… they’re down to Ayton, Crowder, and that’s it to defend Giannis, Lopez, Portis. The Bucks can and should keep pounding inside. High post, low post, offensive rebounds, attack the paint, cuttting, moving, screening. Wear them down and force them to defend both ends. Constant movement, make their backcourt have to run through 100 screens. Make Paul have to pound through screen after screen after screen. Top of the key, backside, frontside- if he switches, hit the roll man, keep the ball high where all he can do is look up. 6’0”, looking up at Lopez. He’s also 37.
The key will be- can Paul/Booker make the same % of shots on the road? if the Bucks punish them like the above, what will they have left on the offensive end?
